Maroni

Site D (Phase II) 18–27 March 1895

Tombs 86 to 109

‘Site B being pretty well exhausted a return was made to Site D, and at the same time a preliminary investigation was made on a site on the pathway just outside Episkopi beyond the church. The latter proved quite unsuccessful. On Site D during the first few days very little was found beyond fragments of Mycenaean and Ayia Paraskevi pottery [WS ware] – the tombs (when found) having been robbed – altogether the second visit to the site was unsuccessful, and it would seem that the area of the Myc. necropolis was very limited’.

Tomb 88

Contents: BM: one item Materials/objects: PotteryChronological range of objects: LC II–IIIA Tomb type and status: ChamberAdditional information: The registered BR vase is described as Mycenaean in the Notebook; also two fragmentary terracotta animal figurines were not registered.

Tomb 89

Contents: BM: 22 items Materials/objects: Pottery, faience, stone, ivoryChronological range of objects: LCTomb type and status: Double chamber tomb: ‘the first chamber Mycenaean, the second Cypriote, of considerably later date’ (all the material is in fact LC in date)Additional information: Unregistered material includes frags of ‘pseudamphorae and other Mycenaean vases’, numerous bronze items (six bronze bowls and mirrors and a spatula), and a ‘stone plate’ (probably a mortar or dish). This is the largest deposit of LC material from Bamboula preserved by Walters. The later ‘Cypriote’ chamber was probably added in LC IIC/IIIA to an existing tomb and contained the WPW III wares and the stone mortars and pestles, which are probably later than the date of the Myc. material. See Kiely 2010, 62–3 for a discussion of this group.

Tomb 90

Contents: BM: one item Materials/objects: PotteryChronological range of objects: LC IIC (LH IIIB)Tomb type and status: ChamberAdditional information: The only object recorded from this tomb was described in Excavations as ‘sub-Mycenaean’ but is actually a genuine LH IIIB import.

Tomb 96

Contents: BM: two items Materials/objects: Pottery, terracottaChronological range of objects: LC IIC–III; CA–CC (?)Tomb type and status: Chamber/surfaceAdditional information: Two bronze bowls are also listed in the Notebook, which were not registered, along with a draped terracotta figurine of Graeco-Phoenician date (with a likely date range of CA to CC). The latter may represent a later burial, or else was intrusive, perhaps from a surface grave in this area.

NotebookDescriptions of Tombs 92–96

Tomb 97

Contents: CMMaterials/objects: Pottery/terracotta, stone, boneChronological range of objects: EC–MC(?)Tomb type and status: Two chambersAdditional information: RP or DP (‘red’ or ‘Alambra’) wares, including several jugs/flasks; an askos and a ladle; numerous spindle whorls (10 terracotta, two stone, one bone). CCM, 181 lists most of the major items entered in the Notebook, including a ladle of red ware (C.M. 26); terracotta spindle-whorls (C.M. 655).

Tomb 98

Contents: BM: 21 items Materials/objects: Pottery, terracotta, stone, bronzeChronological range of objects: EC III–MC I; CG III–CA I/IITomb type and status: Double chamberAdditional information: An EC III–MC I tomb reused in the late CG and CA periods, though it is unclear from the description in the Notebook if the two deposits were in separate chambers.

NotebookDescriptions of Tombs 97–98

Tomb 99

Contents: BM: three items Materials/objects: Pottery, bronze, stone, glassChronological range of objects: LCTomb type and status: ChamberAdditional information: A hollow stone tube (GR 1896,0201.59) was also registered but this is no longer identifiable. The tomb also contained a pair of bronze tweezers (not registered).

Tomb 101

Contents: BM: five items Materials/objects: Bronze, potteryChronological range of objects: LC II–IIITomb type and status: ChamberAdditional information: A Mycenaean pithoid jar dating to the 14th or 13th centuries BC was also registered but this can no longer be found in the collection (GR 1896,0201.390; Vase C438). Daniel identified the mottled sherd from this tomb as Minoan in the British Museum vase catalogue (Vase A568) (illustrated here) as part of a small krater discovered in his Tomb 13 (Benson 1972, 17–18 and 122 no. B224; Daniel 1940, 10, pl. IV(f) where it was correctly classified as a Cypriot fabric. The burial chamber, accessed by a small dromos on the south side, was oval in shape, 3 x 3.9m and approximately 1.5m high. The tomb had been badly disturbed, but yielded the remains of one of the richest burials found at Bamboula by the UPenn expedition, including gold jewellery, cylinder seals and masses of LC pottery as well as some Mycenaean ware. The date range given by Benson (LC I–IIA) seems too early and too narrow for the recorded finds.

Tomb 102

Contents: BM: ten items Materials/objects: Pottery, terracotta, glass, faience, bronze, gold,stoneChronological range of objects: LC II; CGTomb type and status: Chamber (?)Additional information: Five gold studs of a type similar to 1908,2-1.277 were also registered but can no longer be identified in the BM collection (GR 1896,0201.278–282.Frags of Myc pottery matching those in Tomb 53 were also recorded but not registered. See entry on Tomb 53 above for discussion of this burial.

Tomb 104

Described in the Notebook as being a λάκκος 60–70 feet deep and in Excavations (p. 81) ‘like a well, about 70 ft. deep; contained fragments of Mycenaean vases, none preserved’. Daniel (quoted in Benson 1972, 4) suggested that this was the well discovered in his Trench 19 on the eastern side of Area E, a large cluster of tombs outside the built-up area. It should not be confused with the large stone-lined well in Area B just below the summit of the hill (Weinberg 1983, 32).

Tombs 105–109 on the αλωνια [threshing-floor] on the highest part of the site. 4–8 April.

Tomb 106

Contents: BM: one item Materials/objects: PotteryChronological range of objects: LC II–IIITomb type and status: Chamber (?)Additional information: Frags of a Myc. stirrup jar and other vases recorded in the Notebook.

Tomb 107

Tomb 108

Contents: CMMaterials/objects: PotteryChronological range of objects: LC(?); IA (CG?; CA)Tomb type and status: Chamber (?)Additional information: The Notebook mentions six skyphoi, a small lekythos, and an aryballos, all decorated with black bands or circles on a drab background, probably WP, BiCh or BoR wares; also an iron object and a frag. of a Myc. vase (poss. intrusive or else surviving from an earlier period of use, if not a misidentified ware). See CCM, 181, which cites as a parallel for one of the skyphoi a stemmed WP I vase from Kouklia (C.M. 954), indicative of an early CG use of this tomb.

Tomb 109

Contents: BM: two items registeredMaterials/objects: PotteryChronological range of objects: LC IIC–IIITomb type and status: Chamber (?)Additional information: A second WPW III strainer jug is mentioned in the Notebook but was not kept. Excavations, 81.